Tennis - Boys V
Last year, the boys tennis team won the Class A New England Championship, beating Cheshire, Loomis and Taft in the NEITA tourney, completing an undefeated 14-0 campaign. Co-captains Peter Heidrich and Mark Adamsson were joined by this year’s captain-elect Alisdair McClintic, rising star James Heaney (’14), Michael Kontaxis, Hunter Schlacks, Malachi Price and Alec Buck. (Read our Highlights page to get the details of some of those dramatic wins.)
The year before, the team was captained by Mark Adamsson, '11, the first upper-middler to captain the Andover varsity in many years. Some of our favorite early-season matches were rained out at home, but we had enough wins (Taft, 4-3; Groton, 5-0; Tabor, 6-1) to be chosen for the New England team tournament at the end of the year, where we lost to eventual winner Hotchkiss, 4-0. In the individual tournament (NEPSITT), Peter Heidrich was a semi-finalist in the A draw and lower-middler Alasdair McClintic a finalist in the B-draw.
With a 10-4 season record, the 2009 Andover Boys were "A" Division finalists in the NEITA team tournament, beating Deerfield 4-1 and Milton 4-3 before succumbing to Loomis Chaffee in the finals, at Loomis, 4-3. Wins came this year against BB & N, Taft, Groton, Tabor, St. Paul’s, Roxbury Latin, Exeter (twice), Deerfield and Milton. Captain Trey Meyer once again won the NEPSITT singles title. We have lots of fun in tennis here at Andover. We look forward to alumni tennis reunions and matches, wherein our players might get the chance to play against former players like Trey Meyer (All-American this year at Williams and national doubles champion), Tom Reifenheiser '90 (another two-time NEPSITT Champion), Peter Palandjian '82, Harvard '89, Moustapha '89 and Ousmane '90 Diop, Senegalese Davis Cuppers and champion doubles players at Oberlin; and Chi-Wai Lam of Yale, NEPSITT champion of 1989. A look at the record books shows that tennis at Andover is a great, 120-year-old tradition.
We have a large and popular tennis program at Andover, with a fall co-ed instructional and intramural program run by USPTR-certified professional and English teacher Dr. Greg Wilkin and three boys teams taking part in interscholastic contests in the spring. We play matches against Taft, Exeter, Deerfield, Choate-Rosemary Hall, St. Paul’s School, and many of the strongest Boston-area private and public high schools. Team members play both singles and doubles. We are confident that the training received enhances their candidacy to strong university programs.
As always, Varsity Tennis is a six-day-a-week commitment. Varsity A may practice in the Cage from 8-9:30 p.m. on rainy or inclement days. A player needs to compete in a Varsity A match to be considered for a letter.
Goals:
Fun, healthy exercise, personal development, tennis improvement, team success.
Ideals:
Be a good TEAMMATE (dedicated, cooperative, supportive, considerate, fun, dependable);
Be a good COMPETITOR (prepared, focused, fair, generous, even-tempered, resourceful, determined);
Be a good TENNIS PLAYER (fit, skilled, consistent, intelligent, knowledgeable, improving)
Team Party and Grass-Court Matches, hosted by the O'Neils
(l to r:) Coach Greg Wilkin, MIchael Kontaxis ('11), Tony Zou ('09), 2009 Captain Trey Meyer ('09), Myles O'Neil ('12), Hunter Schlacks ('11); second row: Max Png ('10), 2010 Captain Mark Adamsson ('11).